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Written and spoken texts can be examined with respect to each of these Meta functions in register analyses.
http:www.isfla. orgSystemicsDefinitiondefinition.html, accessed on 30 July 2008, 8: 22 AM.
2.3.1 The ideational metafunction
The ideational metafunction is divided into two: experiential and logical metafunction. The experiential metafunction organizes our experience and
understanding of the world. It is the potential of the language to construe figures with elements such as screen shots of a moving picture or pictures of a comic novel and
its potential to differentiate these elements into processes, the participants in these processes, and the circumstances in which the processes occur. The logical
metafunction works above the experiential. It organizes our reasoning on the basis of our experience. It is the potential of the language to construe logical links between
figures; for example, this happened after that happened or, with more experience,
this happens every time that happens.
The ideational metafunction relates to the field aspects of a text, or its subject matter and context of use. Field is divided into three areas: semantic domain,
specialization, and angle of representation.
Within the semantic domain, SFG proponents examine the subject matter of a text through organizing its nominal groups nouns noun phrases and its lexical
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verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. These are the words that carry lexical meaning in a text, as opposed to function words, whose purpose is purely grammatical‚ that is,
their purpose lies only in relation to other words in the vicinity.
Specialization is partially determined through attention to jargon or other technical vocabulary items. Examining the angle of representation involves a close
look at types of processes, participants, and circumstances.
2.3.2 The interpersonal metafunction
The interpersonal metafunction relates to a texts aspects of tenor or interactivity. Like field, tenor comprises three component areas: the speakerwriter
persona, social distance, and relative social status. Social distance and relative social status are applicable only to spoken texts. Note - this is not so, looking at the text of
O´Halloran we are told that we no longer have the option to contrast the various speakers but we can examine how the individual authors present themselves to the
reader, therefore, we are able to look at social distance and relative social status in texts where there is only one author.
The speakerwriter persona concerns the stance, personalization and standing of the speaker or writer. This involves looking at whether the writer or speaker has a
neutral attitude, which can be seen through the use of positive or negative language. Social distance means how close the speakers are, e.g. how the use of nicknames
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shows the degree to which they are intimate. Relative social status asks whether they are equal in terms of power and knowledge on a subject, for example, the relationship
between a mother and child would be considered unequal. Focuses here are on speech acts e.g. whether one person tends to ask questions and the other speaker tends to
answer, who chooses the topic, turn management, and how capable both speakers are of evaluating the subject.
2.3.4 The textual metafunction
